I had a seat and was having a conversation with my Korean friend (in English). My Korean friend did NOT have a seat and was standing in the aisle.

I just got done running around in the hot sun for a few hours playing Ultimate frisbee so I was tired & in no mood to deal with any BS. I just wanted to enjoy my 2 cans of Cass & relax. I was NOT drunk.

An ajosshi 2-3 rows behind me starts yapping something really loud & my Korean friend gave me a "shhh" gesture". I assumed the ajosshi was talking about me , so I continued the conversation in a normal volume....

I had a seat and was having a conversation with my Korean friend (in English). My Korean friend did NOT have a seat and was standing in the aisle.

I just got done running around in the hot sun for a few hours playing Ultimate frisbee so I was tired & in no mood to deal with any BS. I just wanted to enjoy my 2 cans of Cass & relax. I was NOT drunk.

An ajosshi 2-3 rows behind me starts yapping something really loud & my Korean friend gave me a "shhh" gesture". I assumed the ajosshi was talking about me , so I continued the conversation in a normal volume....

Kidding. Yeah, I bought 2 cans of Cass in car 4. The counter person in the dining car gave me a plastic bag. I walked to my seat in Car 5 & placed the beer in the net in front of my seat. Then, I drank the 2 beers, while in my seat.

Come to think of it, I DID raise a beer & offer it to my Korean friend, but he declined.

when they sell beers on the train, i don't see what the problem is. Talking loudly on trains buses etc. is unnecessary when it is quiet on the train. People from the states tend to be louder when they talk in general than other nationalities if you are asking me. If you are talking loudly on public transport anywhere when it is quiet, it is rude, adjosshi or not.

Kidding. Yeah, I bought 2 cans of Cass in car 4. The counter person in the dining car gave me a plastic bag. I walked to my seat in Car 5 & placed the beer in the net in front of my seat. Then, I drank the 2 beers, while in my seat.

Come to think of it, I DID raise a beer & offer it to my Korean friend, but he declined.

Sorry, I misunderstood. I thought it was a regular subway car. Thought the beer was a bit out of sorts.

As for being loud... the guy could be an arse, you could have been loud, or it could be a combination of the two. Really impossible for us to say on here.

I will say this - I don't think he would have said anything if you were Korean. I think this may have been a "teach the foreigner manners" moment for him. Koreans rarely confront each other in these situations (unless drunk).

Drinking "a" beer on the train is fine. The KTX is usually full of drunken men in Friday evenings. If anything, he was angry that you exist. I've had random people come out of the woodwork and tell me that I disgust them and that I should go back to Russia, America, Canada, the UK, China, or where ever they think I am from. I've also been called a Jew a lot in Korea. I am not sure if they mean the ethnicity or if they mean Israeli, which I am neither.

I wouldn't worry about the drinking thing too much, unless he thinks you were giving it women or children. There are a lot of xenophobic people here in Korea. It is their society to be xenophobic. It might be his hobby? Not sure at all, but if I were you, I would suggest not drinking in public. I say it as a safety measure for you and to help keep your dignity. Remember, you are in a foreign country and you have to play by their rules, no matter how much of a double standard it is. Basically, I have been told that foreigners are not allowed to drink in public. I have heard this from three Korean men (only men) and they always refuse to explain it in a clear way, but from what I gathered from one is that Korean people think that white people get drunk and go out and rape kids. Yeah, I know. I hear that too often.

one time on a friday evening, my buddy and I were drinking soju on a Saemaul. The train was practically empty, but we were being a little loud, talking in normal voices instead of a whisper. finally, a girl sitting in front of us turned around, handed us each a yogurt, bowed, and said "quiet please". definitely the nicest way to be told to shut up I ever saw.

OP, as it has been said by others - the man might have been having a bad day, or you were in fact being too loud. we'll never know.

Possible. I AM from Philly. We're not as obnoxious as New Yakwers or Baahstonians , but we aren't the shy type.

I'll have to be more aware of my surroundings next time.

But, the lady next to me WAS playing a music video on here smart phone , without a headphone.

It was some kind of a wooden pipe instrument. I remember that because I complimented her on it ...

Maybe she was trying to drown out my "English noise" ...

Whatever. Just wanted to confirm that there is NOT, in fact, a 'quiet car' on a train.

You can be aware all you want. I've had an ajusshi shush a quiet foreigner girl I was talking to on a bus, while teenagers were chit chatting in Korean all around him. Guys like this are scum. I've seen one yelling at a 3 year old child for watching a movie on his dad's phone.

Simply put in any other country yelling at foreigners for speaking is xenophobic and racist. This guy probably gets good and angry with Japan for the things that happened in his lifetime, but forgets that these annoying foreigner's ancestors fought in wars liberating Korea. It's a joke.